


say the word and i'll change my plans

by lostin_space



Series: It Only Takes A Taste [3]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Eavesdropping, Friends With Benefits, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2019-11-14
Packaged: 2021-01-23 20:24:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21326149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostin_space/pseuds/lostin_space
Summary: This was the fourth night this week Alex had brought someone over and, while they weren’t inherently loud, it was hard to sleep when you knew. It was even more frustrating when the fact that Alex refused to share who it was was factored in. He would always shove him out before they could catch a glimpse.
Relationships: Maria Deluca & Liz Ortecho, Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Series: It Only Takes A Taste [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1529921
Comments: 26
Kudos: 163





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> there will indeed be a follow-up at the concert!

“Again?”

Maria nodded to Liz’s question, rubbing her eyes. This was the fourth night this week Alex had brought someone over and, while they weren’t inherently loud, it was hard to sleep when you _knew. _It was even more frustrating when the fact that Alex refused to share who it was was factored in. He would always shove him out before they could catch a glimpse.

“But,” Maria said, carefully cracking the door to Liz’s bedroom back open, “I heard two voices when I snuck in here, so I was thinking maybe we could see who it is.”

“Isn’t that kinda mean?” Liz asked, “What if this guy isn’t out yet?”

“Then we pretend we don’t know,” Maria said simply, “I mean, he’s being pretty risky if he isn’t. This is his fourth night staying over.”

“I guess,” Liz said, though she sounded hesitant.

Regardless, they both peered through the crack.

“Will you just put a damn shirt on?“ Alex hissed, swatting _someone’s_ bare skin with probably that shirt he was talking about. Maria’s eyes widened and she looked at Liz who seemed just as amused.

When the boys came into view of the little crack, they both nearly blew their cover.

They had thrown a ton of names at Alex in trying to discover who he’d been bringing over but hiding and Michael Guerin’s name never even came up. The guy always appeared painfully heterosexual. However, with Alex, he seemed effortlessly comfortable.

He leaned his back against the counter and Alex caged into him.

"You stayed too late,” he whispered and Michael just grinned at him, trying to go in for about 4 kisses that Alex dodged, “You know if they find out, they’ll insist that we’re together.”

“Sorry,” Michael said, choosing to kiss Alex’s neck since his lips kept sneaking away. Alex smiled at that. Like, legit, tooth-bearing smile. Liz was almost shaking with excitement. “I would say we could go to my place, but Isobel wakes up at 5 to do yoga in the living room.”

“Yeah,” Alex breathed, caving and kissing him. Maria looked away after a few seconds. The kiss was overwhelmingly intimate for two people who claimed they weren’t dating.

“Can I see you tonight? After physics?” Michael asked. Maria looked back to see that they weren’t really done kissing. Their lips were still partially touching and Alex dragged his hand up his chest.

“No,” Alex said, taking the new pout on Michael’s lips between his teeth. Maria barely suppressed the inhuman noise that wanted out.

“Please?” Michael actually almost begged.

“I have a choir concert, I have to practice and then I have to go there. Won’t be done until super later, won’t have time to sneak you in,” Alex explained. Michael grinned.

“Can I come?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Why? Friends go to each other’s concerts.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t trust you not to tell Maria and Liz if you’re left alone with them.”

“I’m alone with Liz all the time.”

“Liz isn’t the one who will pry it out of you,” Alex said and Maria almost went to disagree, but she chose not to blow her cover. Michael sighed and pouted again.

“I wanna hear you sing,” he said. Alex rolled his eyes, leaning into him again.

“How about I give you a private show tomorrow, then?” he asked softly. A downright filthy smile found Michael’s face and he nodded.

They kissed one more, agonizingly slow time before Alex shoved him towards the door.

“Break a leg, Alex,” Michael said, returning his shirt to his body. Alex seemed rightfully disappointed at the lack of skin in view.

“Mm, good luck on your physics test,” Alex agreed, “Still text me and tell me how you did .”

“Oh, baby, you know I’m gon’ ace that shit,” Michael teased, hopping over to where Alex was now making coffee and placing a dramatic kiss to his cheek.

Alex was still smiling after he was gone.

“Oh my God,” Liz whispered as they quietly closed the door.

“I know!” Maria whispered back. They both had looks of shock on their faces. “We need to get him to come to that concert tonight.”

“I know!” Liz agreed, an excited look coming on her face as she got an idea, “I’ll get Max to ask him to come that way Alex won’t think we did it.”

Maria smiled. Her heart felt full. Her little Alex was in love even if he didn’t know it yet.

“Genius.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael goes to Alex's concert.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi i'm procrastinating

“Liz is dragging me to Alex’s concert tonight. You wanna come with so I’m not dying?”

Michael frowned as he looked up to where to Max was sitting at the counter. He had picked up an extra shift at the Crashdown since he had nothing to do after finishing his physics test in 30 minutes. He worked until 7 and then he was going to go home, pick up where he was at in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and blow up Alex’s phone with reactions like he usually did when they couldn’t hang.

But now he was being propositioned by Max who had clearly been put up to it.

“Uh, yeah, sorry man, I have work,” Michael said. He wasn’t sure _who_ put Max up to it, but he could make assumptions and he wasn’t exactly eager to go against Alex’s wishes. The guy was one of his best friends, he wasn’t about to piss him off by doing what he said not to.

Besides, if it was indeed Maria and Liz like he thought, then he really didn’t want to fall for it.

“You get off at 7, concerts at 7:30, sounds perfect,” he said. Michael stared at him.

“Alex doesn’t want me to go,” he said and it was the truth. Max still looked confused.

“Why? I thought you two were friends,” he said. Michael nodded.

“We are, but he’s embarrassed,” Michael lied. If there was one thing in the world that Alex Manes was not embarrassed about, it was his music. Michael had never met someone so confident in their talents and it was unbearably attractive.

Alex, in general, was unbearably attractive. Michael was just blessed enough to be his friend that could fuck him.

Max didn’t buy the lie and he sighed. “Dude, please? Liz said if I get you to come then she’ll… do a thing I like.” Michael scrunched up his nose. “Please!”

“Why am I apart of your sex favors?”

“It’s not a sex thing!” Max argued, but the high-pitched voice he used said otherwise. Michael just shook his head. “Please? I-I’ll do anything. Just come to this fucking concert.”

Michael eyed him. “You’ll pay my part of the rent this month?” Max opened and closed his mouth a few times before sinking a little bit.

“Fine, I’ll do it, just come,” he said. Michael snorted.

“Damn, I don’t know what Liz has in store for you, but I hope she knows how much power she holds,” he joked. Max didn’t find it that funny and it told Michael that she knew _exactly _how much power she held. “Fine, fine, I’ll come, but I’m leaving as soon as it’s over. I don’t want Alex to know I’m there.” Max nodded and sulked back to the table where both Maria and Liz were waiting.

Michael pulled out his phone and opened his long-ass text chain between him and Alex. He started to type out a message about how his friends were medalling a bit too hard, but erased it before he could send. He did want to hear Alex sing. Well, he’d already heard him sing, including the solo he had tonight that was in Gaelic, but he was eager to hear it again. He wanted to see him perform.

He put his phone away and just promised to be out of there before Alex saw.

-

“Oh, Michael, you came.”

Michael stuck his tongue out at Maria who just gave him a knowing smile as if she wasn’t the one who directly forced him to come. He fidgeted at the edge of the pew in the church the concert was being held at, settling in beside Max who just smiled at him. Michael sighed.

It didn’t take too much longer for the choir to begin processing in, the men in their black slacks, bowties, and white button-ups, and the women in long black dresses. He recalled hearing them be referred to as trash bags from the times he spent in the music building. Michael smiled but kept his head bowed until everyone was firmly on stage to do his best not to get spotted by Alex.

The setlist was… admittedly batshit. Which he was expecting since he’d only heard Alex sing in English once within the few weeks they’d been hanging out. Alex would occasionally send him voice messages of him singing some random part of some random song and ask if it was good, leaving Michael’s only reply option to be ‘yeah, what the fuck is it’.

The women’s choir had a few very beautiful songs with more than a few extremely high sopranos being impressive as hell. That section was followed by the mix of both the men and women, who sang a few songs in a language Michael didn’t recognize but found so stunning that he had chills. He could pick out Alex’s voice when he tried and stared at him and, at one point, he thought he made eye contact and quickly looked away to make sure he didn’t. Whenever the women exited the stage and left the men to perform their songs, Michael’s knee was bouncing and he couldn’t hide the smile on his face.

There were two relatively slow songs that Michael had heard Alex do only a couple times and they were nice. Once Alex stepped forward and the rest of the men formed a semi-circle behind him, though, Michael was on the edge of his seat. Alex had told him the song was called _Dúlamán _and it never failed to be impressive as hell. It was so fast-paced and complex, but Alex performed it with ease. There was just this air of confidence around him that seemed to put the rest of the men behind him on their toes as they sang, each one of them continuously getting more and more passionate as Alex led them through it.

Michael had to stand up and clap for him whenever they finished. He didn’t really care that Liz and Maria were staring at him as he whistled and clapped. Alex was his friend too, he was allowed to be impressed. It didn’t mean anything more than that just because they were sleeping together, that was just a double standard that he didn’t accept.

He tried not to feel bad when he left as soon as it was over.

-

“Michael!”

Michael groaned as he pulled himself off the bed in his room. He had almost fallen asleep waiting for a text from Alex that said he was home and the last thing he wanted to do was to get up and probably kill a bug. That’s usually the only time Isobel called his name.

Instead, though, when he walked into the living room, he saw Alex standing there with a very motherly look on his face and his arms crossed over his chest still in his suit. Isobel slipped past them.

“Busted,” she sang softly, hip bumping him before disappearing into his room.

“I thought I told you not to come,” Alex said and he looked so serious that Michael had to bow his head, “This whole arrangement isn’t going to fucking work if you just deliberately go behind my back. I know it doesn’t seem like a big deal, but if you’re just going to ignore me on something stupid like this, then what else will you ignore me about?”

Michael sighed and looked back up at him. “I’m sorry. Max begged me to go because he didn’t want to be stuck with Liz and Maria and I tried to tell him no, but he was so desperate he’s literally going to be paying my rent.”

“Michael, I don’t need Maria and Liz knowing about us. They are constantly on my ass about getting a boyfriend and I want them to stop. Fuck, I’ve tried to get them to stop and they don’t and that’s annoying as it is. I don’t need them misunderstanding this or, worse, never shutting up about it and ruining it. I just want to be able to do what I want without being questioned, that was the whole reason I even moved out to go to college,” Alex explained. Michael nodded because he knew. He’d heard the girls grill him and he saw whenever it crossed a line for Alex. He knew going didn’t help.

“I’m sorry,” Michael said, “I’ll keep my distance or something. I didn’t mean to completely go against what you asked.”

Alex rubbed his tired eyes. “I know, I know you try not to do that. I’m just… I’m tired of it. I’m tired of not being able to have male friends and I’m tired of not being able to do what I want with my body without it being the main topic of discussion every day. I’m sorry that affects you and our friendship.”

“No, I get it!” Michael insisted, eyes wide as he tried to wrack his mind for ways to prove to Alex that he really did understand. “I hate my relationship status being the most interesting thing about me too.”

“I’m more than who I’m fucking or dating, you know?” Alex said. Michael nodded.

“You are, dude,” he agreed, “And, I know me being there didn’t help whatever Liz and Maria were thinking, but you owned that stage tonight. Like that Gaelic shit was hot as hell. You deserve to be on stage all the time.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Alex chuckled, seeming a little more relaxed, “I was singing about seaweed, so.”

“Good,” Michael laughed, shoving his hands in his pockets, “Are we good? I won’t just show up at your shows again. And, well, if I do, I’ll make sure I make fun of you so they’ll think we’re just bros being bros.”

Alex bubbled with laughter, “Bros being bros?”

“Yeah,” Michael assured, “I will make sure they know that there is no banging to be had.”

“None what’s so ever,” Alex agreed, taking a step closer. Michael smiled and slowly started nearing him.

“Literally why would they ever think we could sustain a relationship?” Michael asked, “We are far too opposite.”

“And you smell like a fucking junkyard,” Alex judged, placing his arms around Michael’s neck, “I don’t want people thinking I’m dating you.”

“And you are way too fucking full of yourself,” Michael shot back, hoping he hid just how well he actually loved that aspect of him, “Why would I want people thinking I like someone like that?”

“Exactly,” Alex whispered, resting his head on Michael’s and nudging their noses together, “Like I could ever, ever, ever like someone like you.”

“Never,” Michael agreed, his smile slowly falling as he let himself get lost in the feeling of his skin, “Falling in love is for people like Max and Liz.”

“Mhm, fuck that,” Alex said, moving his head to Michael’s shoulder and nuzzling his nose against his neck. He let out a soft whine. “These pants are so itchy, get them away from me.”

Michael laughed and rubbed Alex’s back, breathing him in slowly as she began pulling him towards his room. Alex went willingly.

“I think I can help with that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the song I mentioned that Alex had a solo in is [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6srNv6W0RE) and it is a irish folk BOP 
> 
> Also on my tumblr: spaceskam

**Author's Note:**

> also on my tumblr: spaceskam


End file.
